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Antenatal Screening

People's stories

Continuing with an affected pregnancy

Interview AN41

Interview AN41

Background: Age at Interview: 3 months old. Age at diagnosis: During pregnancy (21 weeks). Parents marital status: Married. Occupation: Mother-Market Research Adviser, Father-Accountant. No other children. The family live close to a specialist hospital.

Brief outline:Their son was diagnosed with Tricuspid Atresia, a large VSD, ASD, small right ventricle & small pulmonary artery. Treatment: Modified BT Shunt & Atrial Septostomy at 24 hrs old. Cardiac catheters & further operations planned when their child is older. Current Medication: diuretics, aspirin, sytron, anti-reflux and lactulose. More of this interview can be seen on the DIPEX Congenital Heart Disease site as interview CHD03.

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Although it was horrible at the time, having her son's heart condition diagnosed before birth probably saved his life.
Print If it is an antenatal diagnosis, what my emotions were at first were I didn't want to know. I didn't want to have been told this piece of information, because that then gave me a decision to make that I didn't want to have to make, but with hindsight that antenatal diagnosis actually saved his life. If he hadn't had that diagnosis he would have been born at a different hospital where they didn't have any paediatric support at all. So, you know, it just would have been horrible. And because he was that unstable, in an intensive care environment without any support at all I don't know what would have happened. So I think in terms of advice to somebody who's had an antenatal diagnosis, it's absolutely horrible at the time, but it is the best thing to know because then that gives you the time to prepare emotionally, but really importantly it means that the right medical support is on hand for your baby the minute that they're born. And they're monitored from the minute that they're born, which gives them the best possible chance in life.

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